Zacusca (Romanian Vegetable Spread)
Vegan Cuisine Zacuscă is a vegetable spread popular in Romania. It is usually eaten with bread. Similar spreads are found in other countries in the Balkan region and bordering regions. Although traditionally prepared at home as a way to store vegetables for the winter, it is also commercially available.
Before you start
A quick setup makes the method easier to follow and keeps important steps from being missed.
Preparation checklist
- Read all 6 method steps from beginning to end.
- Measure and arrange all 9 listed ingredients.
- Set aside about 180 minutes, based on the time recorded by the source.
Recipe notes & preparation tips
When adding the eggplant and remaining ingredients, you can also add mushrooms, boiled beans, zucchini, hot peppers, carrots, celery etc. This way you can have different spreads over winter with different flavor profiles.
Adapted from the source recipe's notes.Method
- 01
Roast the eggplants and peppers until their skins are charred and easily removable by hand. Skin the vegetables. The pepper skins should come off easily in long strips. The eggplant skin might retain some of the flesh; some people like to take the back of the knife over the skin to remove that flesh and use it because it has a smokey flavor, but you can easily discard it if pressed for time.
- 02
Dice the eggplants and peppers in 1–2 cm cubes. The peppers will retain their shape, but the eggplant flesh is mushy so don't worry if your cubes aren't perfect shapes, they will disintegrate more when cooking and that is the goal.
- 03
In a large nonstick skillet, sauté the onions in the oil over medium until golden.
- 04
Add the peppers to the onions. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
- 05
Stir in the eggplants, tomato paste, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Simmer until the oil comes to the surface.
- 06
Can the mixture in sterilized jars. Store in a cool place. If you don't want to can, zacusca can be stored in the fridge and consumed within a few days, like any stew. If that is the case, given the large quantity you just made, invite over a few friends and smear the spread on thin-to-medium slices of a baguette. Bon appetite!
Ready to serve
Serve the dish as directed and enjoy it while it is at its best.
Bon appétit — enjoy your meal!Source & licence
This recipe was adapted and reformatted from Wikibooks Cookbook . Text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Image: CC BY-SA 3.0, credited to No machine-readable author provided. Bogdan assumed (based on copyright claims).; view original image record .
More from International
InternationalAadun (Nigerian Corn Flour with Palm Oil)
Cuisine of Nigeria Aadun is a snack common amongst Yoruba-speaking people of Nigeria. There are two types of aadun: one made from pure corn flour and one made from corn flour mixed with palm oil and salt. This recipe is for the latter. The Kogi people add ground beans to modify the taste.
InternationalAcorn Crusted Salmon
You can use any type of salmon for this dish. Typical seasons are June/July for Sockeye Salmon, July-November for Coho Salmon, and August/September for Chinook Salmon.
InternationalAdobo Chicken (Philippine)
Cuisine of the Philippines Adobo chicken is the most indigenous in the Philippines. It has evolved over the centuries to prepare foods that won't spoil easily in a tropical climate. The vinegar gives it a tangy taste and acts as a preservative. Each region has its own version, but pork and/or chicken are most commonly used. The steps below are the traditiona
InternationalÆbleskiver (Danish Spherical Pancakes)
Æbleskiver or ebleskiver (literally "apple slices") are traditional Danish cakes, somewhat similar in texture to American pancakes. Æbleskiver are cooked in a special æbleskive pan, a cast-iron pan with several hemispherical indentations in the bottom of the pan.